Do Not Trust The Detective
by ArmordaRay
Summary: Hiei and Kurama are trapped on an island with little creatures in control of their destiny. They have to find their true love, or they'll never get off. Question is, who will it be, and how long will it take to find them? OCxHiei, OCxKurama, HieixKurama. Co-written with AleyKitty, go check her stuff out, it's awesome! M for Swearing, suggestive scenes.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, hey, hey, watch what I can do," Yusuke tipped his head back and balanced a flask on his nose.

Hiei hiccuped and sipped his drink, laying on the table, "Your tricks don't amuse me D-deh-tective. "

Kurama giggled from his spot on the couch, his feet dangling over the top, his red locks brushing the ground as he watched them upside down, "Why doesn't it fall Yusuke?"

"Because I have skills!" Yusuke cheered, which made the flask veer and fall onto his lap, laughing.

Hiei started laughing hard when he rolled to see Kurama, "Fox," he hiccuped, "Why are you upside down?"

"I'm not upside down!" He pouted, which looked like a smile with the way he was sitting, "You are!" He pointed accusingly and tried to take a sip off his beer, splashing beer all over his face. He managed to get a gulp and started laughing, hard.

Hiei laughed and grabbed a handful of chips, stuffing them on Kurama's face, which just resulted in them getting in his hair and some in his mouth.

Kurama crawled off the couch and lay with Hiei on the floor, "What're you doing Hiei?" He asked quietly.

Yusuke lay down by the two of them and rested his arms on Hiei's chest staring at Kurama.

Hiei grabbed Kurama's shirt and pulled him close, "C'mon," he slurred, "We can all sleep here."

Kurama yawned and curled up on Hiei's chest too, "But you're little." Yusuke had to move enough to wrap an arm around the fox to avoid squishing him.

"Then we can lay on you!" Hiei pushed Kurama onto his back and snuggled up to him, grabbing Yusuke to haul him over. Yusuke rolled onto him and wrapped his arms around Hiei in return to secure them all together.

"If I weren't so drunk right now I'd say that was a stick Kurama." He commented.

"I love you guys," Hiei purred, "Stick or no stick."

Yusuke snickered and snuggled closer.

Hiei chuckled, "Fox, do you love us?"

"Love you? That's dangerous." He ruffled their hair.

"But I love you," Hiei whined.

"Oh alright," Kurama sighed, "I love you too."

"Good, Yusuke?"

"What," Yusuke shouted, sitting upright.

"Do you love us?"

Yusuke grinned and lay atop Hiei, "Yes."

"Good," Hiei nestled down with a hand on both of them, "You'd better." He yawned.

Kurama and Hiei fell asleep rather quickly.

Hiei groaned as he opened his eyes to daylight, wincing, "Ah, Fox, what the hell!" He covered his eyes, whimpering as the light pierced his skull like a knife.

Kurama yawned and looked about. "When'd we get outside?" There was a soft purring around them.

"No clue," Hiei sat up on his elbows but came face to face with the purring, jerking back, "What are these?" It was a little brown fluff sitting on his chest. He frowned and touched it, making it purr louder and scoot closer to his hand, "Fox?"

Kurama sat up and a white one squeaked as it fell to the forest floor. He frowned, studying it. "Oh shit."

"What?" Hiei asked as he sat up, cuddling the little furball.

Kurama looked about, "Um, Hiei, we're in Tribble."

"What's Tribble?" Hiei patted the little furball, making is squeak and purr.

"That furball, but also the name of this territory."

"And?" Hiei frowned, "Pick yours up, they're so soft Fox."

"Haven't you heard about Tribble?" Kurama picked up the tribble.

"No, I haven't." Hiei shook his head, petting the furball. It was so soft and felt comfortable in his arms, he wanted to sit there and pet it for hours.

"This whole area is under protection by these creatures," he held up the white fluffball. "They're actually very telekinetic and can create massive barriers around whatever they choose as their collective."

"Huh. How big is the territory?"

"It's the size of the island we're on." Kurama sighed and stood. "We are, well we're trapped, until these two reproduce."

"How long does that take?"

"They will only reproduce when we obtain 'true synchronization; with someone else." Kurama sighed heavily, "It's a fancy way for saying we're stuck on this island until we fall in love."

"Great." Hiei sighed and flopped down, making the tribble squeak.

"There are hundreds of demons stuck like we are in this territory." Kurama looked about, stuffing the tribble in a pocket.

Hiei sat up and sighed, "Great." Hiei glanced to his side and frowned, "Fox, we have company," he pointed at the two women approaching.

"Yeah, well, that fluff in your hand won't allow you to attack and won't allow them to attack either."

"What will it do, bite me?"

"No."

"What will it do?"

"Barriers. You'll just be isolated. Here, let me show you," Kurama pulled out his whip, and slashed out at Hiei, but the barrier shot up between them and it fell aside. He pulled the whip again.

"Hn," Hiei pet the fluffball, "I see."

The two women were at their feet by the time Kurama had his whip put away. One had a large set of horns on her head, decorated with chains and charms, her tribble in a purse on her hip.

The other woman stepped out behind her, a long braid down her back, and a happy grin on her face. She bounced up as the wind picked up around her and her ears wiggled, "Ooo, the little one's cute!"

Hiei stiffened as she flew around him.

"Calm down, you'll scare them," The other woman chuckled, brushing her blonde hair back, "Hello," she offered with a soft smile.

Kurama sighed, and smiled, "Hello."

"You're new here, we have a bit of a city here on the island, you have your tribbles too," She smiled, "We can show you to the city, we tend to wander around looking for new people to help," she offered her hand to Kurama.

The tribble in his pocket started making loud purring noises. Kurama shook her hand, "It's nice to meet you. I think we've had a practical joke played on us."

She shook his hand and chuckled, "Apparently so," she pulled a chip out of his hair and threw it on the ground, "I'm Kosami." Her tribble started purring loudly.

"Kurama."

Hiei sighed and pet his fluff, "So who's the other girl?"

"Oh me? I'm Daisy." She sat back in the air currents and smiled, "Who are you?"

"Hiei." He frowned when his tribble started purring and squirming in his hand.

Daisy squeaked and stood up from her leaned back position pulling out a tribble from her boob, "Would you look at that, It's found a match." She held it out towards Hiei and it started purring louder. When she moved it away, it purred softer.

Hiei frowned, "Fox?"

"No clue."

"A match," Daisy repeated slipping closer to him, "is when your tribble, and my tribble," she put them close together, "have found similar patterns in souls, and want you to explore a relationship."

Hiei frowned and put his tribble closer to hers, making it purr louder than ever, "Hn."

"And now if we try to separate," Daisy stepped back several feet and leaned, no energy used at all, but a barrier held her up, glowing behind her back.

"What happens if I throw the tribble away?" Hiei demanded.

"It makes a barrier around itself so you can't go anywhere but closer to it."

"Can we kill them?"

"Nope. They can't do anything but make barriers and breed, and yet, they can rule any demon."

"So they don't die?" Hiei squeezed his, hard, making it squeak, but his hand hit something hard around the tribble and he couldn't squeeze any more. It glowed, a barrier had formed in it's fur.

"Well they do die, but not very quickly, and only after they've bore children."

"That's why it's best to keep tribbles that like each other away unless you're certain you want to explore a relationship." Kosami offered.

"Which I am," Daisy grinned leaning over to smile at Hiei's height.

"I didn't agree to this." Hiei snapped.

"Oh well that's too bad, I guess I'll just have to hang around until you are."

"Fox, you think our tribbles like each other?"

"I have no idea Hiei," Kurama sighed heavily. "I'm still trying to figure out how Yusuke got us on an island."

"We were drunk."

"I, for one, cannot swim in the demon oceans drunk."

"The tribbles made a bridge." Daisy giggled.

"How? They don't have any hands!"

Hiei frowned and started picking through the fur, "How do they move?"

"All the ones who were going to die, flee into the ocean and their carcasses made a bridge."

"No one has really figured that one out," Daisy laughed.

Hiei sighed and put his tribble near Kurama's, waiting.

"They only do one at a time, which, honestly, is all for the better or you could have a whole cluster of people caught too close to breathe. They aren't that picky," Daisy pet her tan tribble.

Hiei grumbled and glared at the fluffball, "Let me go," he snapped at it.

"If that worked everyone would do it," Daisy smiled, "Come on, there's a village not far from here where you guys can get acclimated."

Kosami chuckled and turned, leading the way, revealing a long tail with a tufted end, "It's a nice village too."

"Oh yes, quite nice." Daisy agreed.

Kurama followed after Kosami staying out of his assumed range for the tribble in his pocket. "What are you Kosami?"

"Hm?" She turned to look at him, "I'm a dragon."

He paused for a moment, and the two of them were jostled to a stop. He sighed, "Okay, apparently we're a match too."

"Apparently," she chuckled, shifting to look at him, "What are you?"

"Spirit Fox."

"Ooh, really?" She grinned, "Foxes are fun."

"I'm glad you think so." He walked up beside her and looped his arm with hers, "I'd love to get out of here."

"You and I both," She chuckled, smiling at him, trying not to smack him with her horns.

"How did you find us so quick?"

Kosami patted her tribble, "These guys act like radars, they like finding new people, and we patrol a lot so," she shrugged.

"How long have you been here?"

"Oh, about a year now."

"Is that long or short?"

"Um, it honestly depends. A little long, but short compared to some people."

"What's average?"

"I'd say about a year and a half."

"Ah, so you're about due huh?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "I am. Hopefully your stay won't be that long," she offered with a smile.

"Hopefully." Kurama sighed and stroked the tribble in his pocket.

Kosami sighed, "There are a lot of foxes here, but I've never met another dragon."

"Are there really?"

"A good handful."

"Huh, I would have thought they'd all gone by now."

"No," she shook her head.

The four of them approached a large field filled with farms sporting all sorts of vegetables. Some fields were even out of season, with weather drastically different than it's neighbors. From the direction they approached, they were in summer crops while to the right was spring, and left was fall which they could see north and south of the field.

"If you're into gardening, this is probably the best area to do that sort of thing," Kosami offered softly.

"You just want me to stay," he teased. "Is this the hub for all food on the island?"

Daisy came up beside him and looped his other arm with hers, "Nope. A lot of people eat Tribbles too. They screw someone and eat the babies."

Kosami laughed, "Tribbles are high in protein."

"But you have to skin them first. The parents don't care so much about their babies as long as you don't kill all of them."

"The furs are all over the place, we actually have a few people who specialize in the fur and making clothes out of it."

Kurama chuckled, "That's odd. Hasn't anyone kept cattle."

Hiei sighed, "I don't smell cattle."

"Hm, stupid people."

"I actually ate some of the cattle we had here," Kosami chuckled nervously.

"You didn't breed it? Keep the population up?"

"We tried that. I think we have a small herd on the far side of the island, but we mostly eat vegetables and tribbles."

"Well what you do is you get a herd of about twenty or fifty unique cattle-breeds, and you rotate the breeding to get the biggest genetic diversity, and you breed that too, then eventually, you let the good breeders loose on the island and never touch them. They'll breed like wild and populate the whole damn place."

"I'll have to run that past Romi," Kosami chuckled, "He'll like that idea."

"It's not an idea, it's a proven method to repopulate herds."

"Either way, he'll like it."

Kurama sighed, "This, is not going to work if you're talking like that."

"Fox, if you want out, be nice to the dragon lady and you might get out, then you can kill her," Hiei huffed.

"It's not like we get a lot of intelligent people here," Daisy commented on his other arm, "We barely get any news in and out. You're the first new people here since, well, Kosami."

Kosami chuckled, "That's true, but if it makes you happy, Romi will like that method since his other methods have failed," She glanced at Daisy and laughed. Daisy scowled.

"How long do your tribble keep you attached?" Hiei frowned.

"Until they feel you're no longer a match." Daisy commented, letting go of Kurama to smile and come closer to him.

Hiei shied away from her, taking her spot on Kurama's arm, "Fox, I want out."

"I do too Hiei, but what do you suggest?"

Daisy came alongside Kosami and sighed, "I guess I'm coming on too hard."

"I think he's shy," Kosami offered, "Just take it slow."

Daisy nodded as they waded down the little trail through the crops. "We'll be inside the village soon. I'm sure there will be many people who would like to meet you."

"Fox, we could go out together," Hiei offered, "How do these things know when we're in love?" He demanded.

"Your soul resonance." Daisy replied. "It's a weird way to say the frequency your energy gives off. When you're attracted to someone, they harmonize, and when you're affected enough to no longer be attracted to them, it changes."

Hiei sighed heavily.

Kurama sighed as well, "It'll be alright Hiei."

"Keep saying that Fox." Hiei leaned against him, "I'll believe you when we get out."

"Alright folks." Daisy popped forward as they came up to the beginning of the village. "These here are the local farmers' cabins. They're rotated through as people decide to take up the noble act of feeding us all. On our left," she indicated the cabin, "We have our Summer cabin, and on the right," she indicated the cabin again, "Our Summer cabin. In the center of the village," she held up her arms like an airplane attendant, "We have a well for water, and a drain for sewage. All houses are equipped with all the latest in plumbing and electricity supplied from Electricity Village in the center of the island. This is Village Farm."

"Where's the place with people so we can get off of here as quickly as possible?" Hiei demanded.

"Oh, well people don't really coalesce on Tribble."

Hiei groaned, "Can I please kill something?" He fisted his hands.

"Have sex and you can kill some tribbles," Daisy offered.

"Not with you," Hiei snapped at her.

She pouted, "Alright, fine, but we're the first ones your tribbles decided to pair with, so you're going to have to at least give us a shot."

"I don't care! You were the first ones to find us!" Hiei barked.

"Hiei," Kurama put a hand on his shoulder, "Let's go training. Do you have somewhere we can train?"

Kosami sighed, "Good luck. Tribbles don't like physical fighting, so it might be difficult to do anything."

"It won't be physical fighting. It'll be flag fighting."

"Just any open space really."

"There's a nice sized clearing towards the center of the island," Daisy pointed towards the south. She kicked herself up into the air, "Hiei, I'll race you there."

Hiei glared at her.

"It's not like you can go without me." She countered.

Hiei growled, "I will find a way to kill this damn tribble of mine."

Hiei and Daisy raced to the clearing, which left Kurama and Kosami alone as they walked. "This is incredibly frustrating, but I understand where he's coming from, wanting to leave. The problem is that I don't think there is a way to do that without following the rules of the Tribbles. They're hideous beasts."

"They are a bit strict," she sighed, "I understand their mission, but they go about it so harshly it causes more frustration than anything."

"Yes, it is very true. How did you come upon Tribble?"

"By mistake mostly, I was just running around and thought, 'Oh, are there villages there?' and got myself trapped."

"When I was young everyone knew about Tribble. At the time, there had been an epidemic of the Tribbles and there was a massive effort to get all tribbles onto the island, to isolate the problem and stop the tribbles from taking over Demon World."

She laughed, "Oh dear, that's terrible. Well, you can take revenge on the tribbles," she shrugged, "Just eat their babies."

"It wasn't funny," Kurama scoffed, "It was horrifying. Many demons sacrificed themselves to the island project. They would come here and kill themselves rather than giving in to the demands of the tribbles."

"I'm sorry, at first it just sounds funny, imagining tiny fluffy tribbles taking over everything," She offered him a weak smile.

Kurama sighed, "No fighting in Demon World, no way to actually settle differences, no way to organize ourselves, no way to have easy access to food, and eventually, they would overrun us, they would out-breed us, and eat all of our food supplies."

"I understand why you did it, it just sounded funny, but I realize it is not." Kosami sighed heavily.

"It was the boogyman of my era; the Tribbles."

Kosami chuckled softly and shook her head, "Well I thank everyone who helped isolate them."

"If they've made a bridge, the efforts were in vain."

"You can wipe it out. I could probably wipe it out in my true form."

"Well if you get off of this infernal place, it's imperative that you do."

"I'm trying my best."

"How old are you?" Kurama asked gently as they came upon the clearing.

"Oh, seven hundred?"

Kurama nodded, "You're not too young, but not that old." He stepped into the clearing, "Alright Hiei. We fight with our hands, attempting to touch our opponent. Don't close your hand, and don't make hard blows. The one who lands a touch first, wins the round." Kurama offered bluntly, and stood at the ready.

"I like the sounds of that," Daisy commented.

Hiei sighed and got into a fighting stance, "I want to punch something," he chuckled, "But petting will have to do." He came towards Kurama slowly, his hands ready to touch if Kurama got too close.

"It'll take the edge off since you're using your mind the same way." Kurama attempted to assure him.

Hiei made a move towards Kurama, bolting forward to touch him.

Kurama side swept his hand and snuck out of the way. Hiei chased after him. The two went at it until Hiei managed to pat Kurama's shoulder.

Kurama dramatically screamed and fell to the floor with all the flourish of if Hiei had sliced him with the sword. Hiei grinned down at him and put a foot on his chest.

"I like that." He chuckled.

"I know," Kurama touched his leg, "Got you."

Hiei screamed and grabbed his leg, falling backwards, "Damn Fox!" He tried to glare but he was laughing.

Kurama laughed too and sat up, "We don't have to stress so much Hiei, we can just try to get through this in an orderly manner without losing our minds."

"Heh," Hiei rolled his eyes, "We'll see." He crawled forward to sit beside Kurama, satisfied for the moment.

"We've got this Hiei. We just have to find someone we love enough that the tribbles will let us go."

Hiei sighed and leaned against him, "I can't stay here forever Fox."

"Neither can I," Kurama replied softly, "Neither can I."

"When are these tribbles going to realize we don't like the women?"

"Oh," Kurama glanced around, "It seems they already have."

"Are they gone?"

Kurama nodded.

Hiei sighed, "Good."

"Actually, since they're gone and we're not purring," Kurama pulled out his tribble. "This little horror-shop can tell us where the next potential match is."

"Good," Hiei leaned over and pet it, "They're horrible but they're soft."

"They're telekinetic furballs. They didn't used to be telekinetic," Kurama stood.

Hiei pushed himself to his feet and brushed his butt off, "Let's get going."

"Agreed." He slowly turned in a circle pointing the tribble dead ahead of himself. It purred quietly a few times, then stopped, then louder, and stopped, and Kurama kept going until he had done a full revolution.

"Alright Hiei, you try yours. Find a direction it doesn't purr in, and then turn in a complete circle and identify where all of your potential matches are." Kurama pointed himself towards the south where the loudest purring was.

Hiei frowned and held his out, he did a full rotation and it purred a few times, once loudly, "Hn."

"Any of them in the south?" He pointed in his direction.

"One."

"Good, let's head that way then."

Hiei nodded and bolted.

Kurama followed after him at a run, and they soon came upon a somewhat larger village with laid brick paths beaten out of alignment from age. Hiei waited for him at the edge of it, and sighed when he got close.

"What is your tribble doing?"

Kurama pulled it out and did another circular sweep, "Well, we're in the right location." Flocks of demons were heading towards the center of town, so the boys joined in. What they found was a large market with pots, pans, bowls, and services being offered by everyone, sort of like a garage sale tent.

Hiei pulled out his tribble, "Let's see if we can track these people down."

"Yes, lets. I'll meet you back where we came in once I find mine."

Hiei nodded and headed off in the direction his tribble was purring the loudest. He came upon a woman wearing a long red coat with lightning blonde hair pulled back in a messy loose braid. She was focused on a display of metal wears rather than paying attention to the tribble which she had hanging on her neck. It was tiny compared to his, just a little ball half an inch in diameter with some fir sticking up..

"Hey," Hiei patted her arm. He wanted to get her attention as quickly as possible, see if she'd get him out of here.

She grabbed his wrist and spun on him, "Watch what you're doing mister!" she shouted angrily, the tribble purring loudly against her boobs.

"Hey! I want to get off this island as much as you do," He held up his tribble.

"Oh god, you're..." She groaned and rubbed her eyes, still holding his wrist. "Look, I need a new pan, and since we're apparently marked," she batted the caged tribble around her neck, "you're just going to have to come shopping with me. Thanks a lot dumbass."

Hiei grumbled, "I can heat food up."

"Yeah well so can I but the last pan broke."

"I'm a fire demon dumbass." He snapped back, smirking.

"So am I!" She snapped in return, glaring at him. She dragged him away from the stall and towards another one which had raw materials instead. "It's not like you're special or anything so get over it."

"Would you just get your damn pan!" Hiei barked at her.

"I'm trying! Those ones were all going to break just as quick. I'm going to have to make my own stupid fucking pan."

Hiei twisted out of her grasp and got her wrist, moving forward and collecting the materials himself.

"Let me go," She demanded, digging her feet into the ground.

"If you'd stop being such an ass I'd make you a pan!"

"I don't need you to make me a pan. I'm quite capable of doing it all on my own!" She yanked her wrist free.

"Well you're taking too long!" Hiei snapped at her.

"No I'm not!" She shouted back, "I'm going to actually get materials that aren't sub-par!" She pointed at white speckles in the materials he'd begun to collect from the vendor.

The vendor squeaked, "They are not sub-par just because they have a little silver in them!"

"Silver is a weak metal! I want iron and copper!"

"Well you won't find any better iron than mine, Trisha!" The man snapped.

"I doubt that Doriani."

"You can separate the metals," Hiei offered.

Trisha sighed heavily and looked him over, "Look, you're obviously new, just let me do this and stay out of my way for like, half an hour."

"Then hurry up! I don't want to be following you around for half an hour! Just get enough to make five pans!"

"Then maybe you shouldn't have come so close to me!" She turned back to the vendor and began to pick through his iron samples, and then arguing about his copper until he brought up larger chunks of re-purposed copper, of which she took her pick. All in all, it only took five minutes for her to make her selection and the vendor, Doriani, was steamy by the time she was done.

"Come on, I need to go home so I can cast this." She started through the crowded walkway towards the north.

Hiei grabbed her arm, "No, we need to wait."

"What the fuck is with you and your obsession with touching me!" She snapped her wrist out of his hand and glared at him.

"You're so damn fast! I need to wait here for somebody."

She sighed, "Fine, who?"

"My friend." Hiei stuffed his hands into his pockets.

Her eyes softened, "You have a friend stuck here too?"

He nodded, "We can get out of this crowd, but we need to stay nearby."

"My house isn't far." She pointed towards a wall of houses all tucked in together without space in between.

"Fine, but long enough to drop everything off, I don't know how long he'll take."

"It needs to have time to cure, but we can watch the whole market from my roof."

Hiei growled deep in his throat, "Long enough to drop everything off and come back."

"Where is it you need to wait, Mr. No-Name?"

"Hiei. Outside this village, on the north side."

"Oh, that is a ways. Alright, we'll just drop it off." She agreed and, once more, resumed her march towards home. When they came to the building, she didn't enter from the front door, but slipped around the back and jumped off a fence to a second story window, slipping inside. The home itself was deceptively large-feeling, despite the cramped space. She had a large bay window in front, and stairs going down to a first floor, but a nice bed, and a bathroom were both part of the large second-story studio-like space, the bathroom behind a brief wall. She dropped the bags, and things in her coat, including some stuff she'd stolen from Doriani, on a table, and slapped a sutra on it from a pad in her coat. She slipped the pad back in her pocket and slipped out the window, jumping back down to the street.

Hiei sighed when they started walking. She wasn't coming onto him like Daisy had been, and he couldn't help but like that, he didn't want people chasing after him. She was quick to argue back, so she wasn't easily stepped on, but he had to wonder if he had the energy to put up with that. He watched her walk, and noticed her feet didn't sound the same when they touched down. One sounded heavier than the other. She'd had some kind of injury to her leg, but with the way she moved so quickly, it didn't seem to hinder her. He quickened his pace slightly to see the front of her, but didn't find much of interest.

"If you stare any harder I'll give you a need for an extra eye," Trisha taunted. Hiei knew it was an empty threat and she said it lazily like she knew he would know.

"I already have an extra eye," He offered back.

"I noticed," she huffed.

"What's wrong with your leg?"

"Nothing. My leg is just as good as your eye," she tapped it with a knuckle as she stepped, and it knocked like it was solid rather than flesh.

"It's heavier," he frowned, "It's a fake leg?"

She sighed and nodded, "Yeah. What about you and that eye? Is it not naturally occurring as well?"

"It was implanted a while ago," Hiei sighed.

"You picked up on my leg pretty quickly, how come?"

"I could hear it was heavier than my steps, how'd you pick up on my jagan eye?"

"You wear a bandanna."

"I could wear it for other reasons."

She laughed and shook her head, "Not that low. If you didn't have something holding it up, like, oh, an eyeball, then it'd fall in your eyes if you sweat too much."

"It does have a tie."

"Yeah, but nothing can tie that tight right there. Trust me, I used to try. Wearing something there is not a fashion statement." She frowned and considered him, "Unless you're drunk. If you're drunk it's usually a tie."

He chuckled and shook his head as they came to their waiting spot. He could deal with this, now he just had to figure out how to fall in love, "Why is your tribble so small?"

"I killed all the big ones." She gave him a toothy grin.

"Hn," he rolled his eyes, "How'd you kill them?"

"I fed them poison." She shrugged.

"You have some more of that?"

"Sure, but it'd be risky to feed your only tribble poison. When they're going to die unnaturally, they birth their babies, and that could be anywhere from three to ten."

"What if I just keep killing them?"

She held up the cage. "They just keep getting smaller."

"Do they eventually stop?"

She shook her head, "Think about it. Right now that tribble is pregnant with three to ten babies. Each one of those babies are also pregnant as soon as they're born with three to ten more babies. How could you stop that?"

"Inject poison into it?"

"Which makes it eject babies."

"And run?"

"How long have you been here Hiei?"

"Not even a day."

"That's how old that tribble is, and it is already containing you and causing havoc to your life. The ones that live around the edge of the island, where we need to cross to get home, are hundreds of years old. They just, spit out babies when someone crosses them, and those babies are stuck with you until you leave."

"Someone said you can eat the babies."

"You can, but they don't have much meat. The bigger the baby, the more meat, and they get bigger as they get older, unless you don't feed them. Another theory is that the more you feed them, the more pregnant they become, so if you wanted a really giant tribble, you'd feed it a lot until it was super big, and then love something."

"What if you starve it?"

She shrugged, "They just sit there, and purr."

"Hn." Hiei sighed and rolled his neck.

"I've had this one nearly three months, and it's never eaten a bite."

"Doesn't deserve food."

She nodded and looked towards town, "I completely agree."


	2. Chapter 2

Kurama wandered through the maze of people selling things looking for anything shiny and pretty to snag as he absentmindedly searched with the tribble in hand. The purring led him to a woman who was going through a pile of bowls. She was covered in dark stripes like a King Cheetah, and when he came near, glanced up.

He stopped fairly far away from her and held up his tribble to show her what he was thinking.

She waved a hand for him to come over.

He did so after getting the invitation, but still kept a little of a distance from her, "Hello, my name's Kurama. It seems our tribbles are purring."

"It seems so, I'm Asagi." She smiled and continued going through the bowls after a moment.

Kurama watched her sort through her treasure hunt, and slowly approached a little closer so he could see the selection. "Are you alright if we're marked?"

"That's fine." She squatted down and get a selection of five bowls out, looking them over, "Hm."

She had a nice ass. It was complimented by her strong legs. He got a good view as she squatted and he enjoyed it, stepping close enough that the incessant purring stopped as they were marked.

She glanced at him and smiled, "Sorry, I really need a new bowl."

"What for?"

"It got knocked off the table."

"What're you planning on using it for?"

"Food."

"Like salads or stir fries or liquid foods?" He looked across the table examining the possibilities.

"All of the above. These seem to be the best ones." She shrugged.

He examined the ones she'd narrowed it down to, "Well if you want general food, you should go with the third one, but if you really want, I have money."

"You're new here, aren't you?"

"Yes. Why, do they not use money here?"

"Rarely." She shrugged and picked up the third bowl, examining it, "Hm." She stood and bartered with the vendor for a few minutes before she turned to him and smiled. She had her tribble in a sash on her waist, "So Kurama," she tipped her head, "How long have you been here?"

"Somewhere between twelve and seven hours." He smiled.

She laughed, "Oh, you need a place to stay, you can bunk with me, I have plenty of space."

"I have a friend here too. He's gone off to find someone else in the market. His tribble was purring."

"Mm, well, maybe he'll get lucky." She brushed her dark hair back, "Do you need something from the market?"

He shrugged, "I haven't the slightest."

"Alright, when do you need to meet up with your friend?"

"Sometime soon. I was just enjoying the market. What's the most expensive thing I can buy with money that people would want to barter for?"

She considered it, "Jewelry."

"Ah, well I've already got that." He had seen a few nice pieces walking through the market, not that he was going to pull them out until the vendors were changed, but he did have a good selection. The market was so busy it was as easy as breathing for him to pilfer things.

"Things like that," she shrugged, "Anything is fair game really, we're all stuck here so we figure it out."

Kurama smiled at her warning. It was too late for that, but no one would call him on it once they figured out who he was. A dread built in his stomach. "Do you have somewhere isolated?" the redhead asked softly. If he could change now, people could start recognizing him for who he was rather than identifying Shuichi as Youko Kurama.

"Uh, fields, and homes. We can go to my place."

"Is it close?"

"Very close," she offered her hand to him. He took it and followed the girl to her house. It was a modest building a couple blocks out from the market. When they entered, it was quiet inside, and cool.

"This is nice." Kurama smiled, "Can I use the bathroom? I need to change."

"Of course, make yourself comfortable. We're sort of marked," She freed her tribble from the sash and set it on the table.

Kurama nodded and found the bathroom after a couple of doors, slipping inside. He powered up, and changed into his true form, his hair growing out, and ears and tail becoming obvious the higher he pushed his limits. When he finally was transformed, he felt the rush of his past, all the reminders of who he was, and his strong blood lust feeding at his soul. He relaxed, breathing slowly as he centered himself again, then stepped out with a smile, "Thank you."

Asagi jumped a little when she saw him, "Oh, wow."

He laughed and swished his tail, showing off, "Like that?"

She laughed too, "Oh you're so gorgeous." She flushed, "Wow."

"Thank you." He stepped forward and extended his hand, "Youko Kurama."

She took his hand, frowning, "The Youko Kurama?"

He nodded.

"Wow." She blinked up at him, "I don't know what to say."

"Shall we go find my friend then?" Her silence wasn't promising, but it was understandable for him. He didn't give up hope that easily. The first girl had just been too much of a brain dead child, this one had more potential.

"Alright," She nodded, retrieving her tribble, "Well, I never thought I'd actually meet Youko Kurama, let alone get marked to him," she laughed and shook her head, offering her hand to him.

He took it to escort her, "My friend played a prank on us. Not the friend we're meeting, but another one. We're meeting up with Hiei."

"What a vicious prank," She shook her head.

"Well he's been saying for years that we should go fall in love." Kurama sighed heavily, vowing his revenge on Yusuke with every step. "He's a good kid. A bit naive, but he has a sound heart."

"That's good," She sighed, "Hopefully you get off quickly. I hate to sound like this, or make it awkward but I do hope I come with you."

He smiled, "I understand. It's not awkward." They spotted Hiei and his blonde standing at the edge of town. "Ah, it looks like he's found his match."

When they got up to them Hiei chuckled, "Decided to come out, Youko?"

"It was the only sensible thing to do," Kurama replied with a smile, "I mean, it's not like I can keep it a secret, and I do want to protect Shuichi."

"You got yourself a woman too," Hiei nodded and sighed.

"Trisha," Asagi smiled, "Enjoying your new toy?"

"I think I'm starting to see who he is actually," Trisha replied, folding her arms over her chest to size Hiei up.

"Is that good or bad?"

"You've got the dragon on your arm, don't you?" She asked pointing at his bandaged hand.

"Guilty as charged." Hiei nodded.

"Hm." she tipped her head the other way, examining him again, "Well I never thought I'd be dating you."

"This is Youko Kurama." Asagi offered.

"I gathered that, Asagi." Trisha nodded, looking him over. "Quite the catch."

Hiei chuckled, "If our stupid tribbles purred together we'd be out of here by now Fox. But we might have some fun."

"Oh, I think we could practice resonating our souls Hiei," Kurama grinned and slowly drew his eyes over the little man.

"Oh no you don't. He's my mark, you've got your own," Trisha huffed at him, but didn't move to intercept or block him.

Hiei straightened up and smirked, "Let's have fun first."

"Well then, shall we go somewhere less, exposed?" Kurama asked looking about. "Asagi here has a very nice home."

"I have a pan to make." Trisha reminded Hiei pointedly.

Hiei sighed, "She has a pan to make."

"Then her place?" He asked Asagi.

"Sure, why not?" Asagi shrugged, smiling up at him.

"If I'm going to be feeding four people I need some extra food." Trisha commented, but started back towards town to lead the way.

"I can feed myself Trisha." Asagi offered.

"I can grow vegetables and things as well. I'm sure we can accommodate what you need."

Trisha looked over her shoulder at the two of them for a little while, but nodded, "Alright, we can do that." She led them back to her house, but entered through the lower downstairs back door into another empty studio space with a bathroom cut out of a corner, along with a kitchen on the same wall. She had the rest of the place set up for seating and comfort, with some of the area filled with storage and metalworking equipment, but most of that was upstairs.

Trisha examined the three of them when they entered and nodded, "Make yourselves comfortable. Is there anything I can get you to drink?" She asked, heading for the cupboards in the kitchen area.

"Water," Hiei followed after her.

"I second that," Kurama called, staying with Asagi near the door.

Asagi glanced up at him for a moment, "If you wouldn't mind, I'd also love a glass of water."

Trisha brought three glasses of water over to a table and then grabbed a pitcher of it, and a cup for herself, sitting down, "Well don't just stand there, come on," She encouraged.

"She's sort of impatient Hiei," Kurama strolled over to the table to sit with his friend.

"Yeah, she is." Hiei agreed, "What about your woman?"

Asagi made a huffing noise as she took her seat.

"She's patient, I think. I haven't seen evidence on the contrary."

"Patience is a good thing." Asagi murmured behind the lip of her glass.

"Yes, it is," Kurama agreed.

"So, Asagi, how's business?"

"Oh, it's business. I'm trying to see if feeding specific things will affect tribble colors at all, like make them multi-colored, not much success."

"Well feeding them poison did not turn them green, I'll tell you that."

"I got one to turn brown and white, but he was a little on the small side for whatever reason, I'm trying to bulk him up."

"Nice."

"What do you do with them?" Kurama asked.

"I make clothes out of them." Asagi shrugged, "Or things like that, you know, get enough of them and make a rug, or a blanket."

"Nice." Kurama smiled, "I didn't expect that."

"They're pretty warm if you get enough of them," Asagi chuckled. "Plus, you can shave them and spin the fur."

"What does a shaven tribble look like?"

"A tan oval ball thing," She laughed, "I can show you."

"Later."

Trisha stood, "Well, now that you're all settled in, I've got some work to do." She smiled, "I'll be back to chat later." She headed for the stairs.

"Do I have to follow?" Hiei asked skeptically.

"No, the house is small enough around that you won't have an issue," Trisha told him halfway up the stairs, then vanished the rest of the way.

Hiei sighed and leaned against the table, "Fox, how are we getting out of this one?"

"We're going to just have to follow the rules Hiei, fall in love."

"She killed tribbles by poisoning them."

"And yet she's still here, isn't she?"

"I wonder if I can burn them," Hiei set his tribble on the table and snapped his fingers, creating a flame. He tried to catch the fur on fire, but it wouldn't set. He grumbled and put the flame away, "Can we drown them?" He glanced at the pitcher.

Kurama put his hand over Hiei's, "If you kill it, another will replace it Hiei. They're on this island because they almost overthrew Demon World. You're not going to be able to solve this problem when thousands of other demons couldn't."

"But how will it find me? If I drown it, it might also kill the babies."

Kurama pulled out his tribble and set it on the table, "They've got a hive mind Hiei, they are in constant communication with one another. You can't get out of this."

Hiei dunked the tribble into the pitcher. It floated to the surface, pushing his hand up with a barrier. Hiei growled and tried to shove it down, but couldn't because of the barrier. The tribble started shaking, and his hand slipped through it as it shrunk, and popped out of the pitcher, along with ten other tribbles that littered the table.

Hiei growled and grabbed the nearest one, chucking it at the wall, making it squeak, and fall to the floor, "Now which one is mine?"

"Whichever one decides to make the barrier to prevent you from leaving it," Kurama shrugged.

Hiei started smashing them with his fist. It wasn't an effective way to kill them, as most of them just squeaked and bounced back, but four of them died, making twenty four tribbles on the table as the dead ones gave birth.

Asagi picked up the dead ones and stashed them away in her sash with a chuckle, "Keep going Hiei," she cheered.

Hiei swept them all off and growled, "I hate this place."

"Yeah, I know, just stuff one in your pocket and ignore it."

Hiei grabbed one off the floor and stuffed it in his pocket, ignoring Asagi as she got up to collect the live tribbles in her sash, stuffing hers in her shirt.

"Are you done trying Hiei?"

"I almost feel bad for killing it, Fox." Hiei took the corpse of the dead one out of the pitcher and set it on the table.

Kurama chuckled, "I'm not surprised."

"So, I ruined our water," Hiei put the wet fluff near Asagi, who set it aside.

"Yup."

"Do you think you can fall in love with a cheetah?"

"Sure, why couldn't I? It seems silly to think I couldn't fall in love with someone."

Asagi chuckled, "Can you fall in love with Trisha?"

Hiei shrugged.

"The real question is can you fall in love with Youko Kurama?"

"I don't see how I couldn't."

"Good answer. So what do you know about Trisha? Are you two close?"

"No. She's a bit of a smith obviously, not the most successful, but her stuff works."

"Is she well-liked in the village?"

"Somewhat. She steals a lot."

"Doesn't everyone? I mean, outside of here it's standard practice, if you can get away with it."

"That's true. I don't really talk to Trisha much besides selling her furs on occasion, or tribble meat."

"So tell me about yourself," Kurama encouraged.

Asagi shrugged, "What would you like to know?"

"I don't know, what's your specialty off Tribble?"

"My specialty was living?" She laughed, "I took care of plants, had a small shop."

"What did you sell?"

"Seeds, vegetables to eat, herbs, you know," she shrugged.

Kurama nodded, "That sounds nice. Do you have siblings?"

"I had a few siblings, don't know what happened to them though." She sighed, "I lived in a village for a long time, moved a little ways away and made my shop, then got stuck here."

"Are you worried about the safety of your shop?"

"It's been years, it's probably gone."

"What's the average time people spend here?"

"Oh, fifty years?"

Kurama didn't breathe for a minute. He coughed when his body caught up with his mind, "Fifty years? Wow, that's, we were told maybe one and a half."

She laughed, "No, most of the time people are stuck here for years, unless you're really lucky." She frowned, "Sorry, I just, didn't mean to laugh, but a year and a half?"

He sighed, "That's a long time."

"Well, you might be lucky," Asagi shrugged, "Your little friend seems pretty willing, and I'm pretty willing."

Kurama glanced at Hiei, then her. He sighed again and leaned back in his chair.

"Fox, if I stay here fifty years I will kill myself." Hiei informed him.

"Me too."

"We need to get out."

Kurama nodded, "Even if I have to teach you how to control your soul."

"Yes, so, do you want to mess around with this woman or just try to get out together?"

Kurama sighed, "I wouldn't mind having a romantic interest Hiei, some new blood to our group, a chance for kids," he shrugged.

"Fine, but if you take a year I won't give you a choice."

"Oh? And how are you going to do that?" Kurama challenged.

Asagi chuckled as she watched them, petting one of the baby tribbles, "You two are both so, interesting to watch."

Hiei shot a glare her way and looked at Kurama, "I'll find a way to kill them or get you away from them so we can both get out."

"We'll get out of here Hiei, it just might not be very quickly."

"You have Shuichi still."

"Yeah, and I can make another Shuichi too, if I need to, but I don't want to. I'd rather try playing by the rules, see what it comes up with, and slip out of here with someone I'm close to."

"Hn." Hiei grunted, "If you need more tribbles Asagi, I'll kill them for you."

"Thank you."

Trisha came down the stairs and over to the table to sit, "So, anything happen while I was gone?"

"I murdered my tribble and ruined the pitcher water." Hiei commented.

"Oh."

"He gave me like thirty tribbles," Asagi laughed.

"A little stressed?" She got up and replaced the pitcher of water, then downed her cup of water and refilled it with fresh water.

"I want out." Hiei huffed.

"I do too."

Hiei sighed and leaned against the table, "Is there anyway to get rid of tribbles completely?"

She shook her head, "I've been trying my whole time here. I even tried to knock it out, but, it just died and the babies caught me. Once you hit the outer ring, you're stopped no matter what."

"Hn."

"Hiei, do you want to try something? I've got a challenge I like to run with people I'm marked with."

"What?"

"Well since we can't fight," she shrugged, "I made an obstacle course."

Hiei perked up, "Take me to it."

Trisha smiled, "Alright." She headed upstairs with him, and touched her hearth before moving out onto the roof. She pointed around the different rooftops, "The course looks simple, but it's actually somewhat complicated to complete." She pulled out a sutra pad and placed it on the chimney, and around the rooftops she'd pointed out, fire spouted out and created guidelines. "You just have to follow the path, and not get hit. There are some spots that will spit out fire at you."

"Hn, alright," Hiei nodded and discarded his cloak, "How fast are you?"

"I'm not, exceptionally fast, but I'm not slow. We stay on opposite sides." She cracked her knuckles.

"Good, don't get me trapped."

"That's why it's an obstacle course," she ran forward not giving him time to think and jumped for the next roof. If he didn't follow, she'd fall. Hiei bolted after her. She kept up for the first hundred feet, but after that, Hiei could feel the pull barrier starting to form as he tried to block obstacles. As he made a jump, the barrier came up and he smacked into it, and when she got closer, it fell and he went with it, down between two buildings. He tried to grab at the wall and catch himself, but just managed to make it worse when he smacked his head against the wall and continued down limp. She managed to catch him before he hit the road, but it was a narrow reach.

Kurama gasped when they came back to her home, Hiei bloody in her arms, "I-I-he, he was-"

"Hush, just, get him somewhere he can lay," Kurama quickly followed her up the stairs. It only took a few minutes to wrap up the wounds with her supplies.

Hiei woke up half an hour later, sitting up slowly, frowning as he looked about, "Ow, what happened?" He asked quietly.

"You, were going too fast and fell off a building." Trisha huffed angrily.

"What?" Hiei frowned and propped himself up better, wincing, "Ah, who are you?"

Trisha frowned, "I'm Trisha, we're marked."

"What? What's marked?"

She held up her tribble necklace.

"What's that?"

Trisha glanced at Kurama, and sat beside him, "Maybe you should get some sleep."

"My head hurts, bad," Hiei touched his head, gently feeling at his forehead, grimacing.

"He might have a concussion, he shouldn't be sleeping if he does."

"Who are you?" Hiei asked Kurama.

"Who are you?" Kurama returned softly.

Hiei frowned, "I don't know. Who am I?"

Kurama sighed as well, "You, are Hiei."

"Hiei?"

"Yes."

"Who are you?"

"Kurama."

Hiei frowned and rubbed at his head, "I don't know you."

"Then how do I know you?"

Hiei sighed and tried to get up, but he stopped, "How did falling down do this much damage?"

"You smacked your head against a wall."

"And you have a Jagan."

"Is that what I felt? Damn, it hurts," Hiei rolled back onto the bed and groaned, "I feel like someone is stabbing me in the head."

Kurama sighed, "I might be able to help that." He vanished back downstairs.

Trisha stood, "I'm sorry Hiei, this is my fault. I challenged you to a skills contest and you were hurt doing that."

"Well thanks," Hiei grumbled.

She frowned, "We're stuck on an island trying to find someone we can love in order to get off the island, it is a way to test how good someone is before we get too deep into it."

"Huh." Hiei sighed, "Do I love you?"

"No, not yet."

"Hn. Well," He frowned.

"We're trying to see if we can fall in love." She frowned, "Though after what happened, I'm not sure what to think. This is the first time someone's fallen by moving too fast for me to keep up with them."

"Am I really that fast?" Hiei frowned.

Trisha chuckled and gave him a soft smile, "I'm not as fast as you."

Kurama glanced between the two feeling uncomfortable. He recognized that smile. It was one Shiori had given him before, but he had never expected to see it on a woman, let alone a woman who was looking at Hiei. It wasn't, respect, so much as caring. Not love, but, something in between love and caring. He never really nailed it down exactly.

Hiei chuckled too and winced, "Can I go back to sleep?"

Kurama nodded, "Yes, I'd suggest it. Trisha, seeing as you can't leave him too far, I'm assuming he'll be safe for the night?"

"Yes, I'll keep an eye on him. You go see if you can't find some love with that Asagi girl. I'll get in touch if he needs you again."

Hiei glanced up, "Were we good friends Kurama?"

"Very Hiei, very. I'll be back tomorrow to help you start remembering, but first, your Jagan needs to heal." Kurama reached down and stroked Hiei's bangs, "It'll be alright Dragon, you'll get through this and I'll be right there with you."

Hiei smiled up at him with a softer smile than usual and nodded.

"Goodnight Hiei."

"Goodnight Kurama."

Kurama left the two of them alone.

Kurama packed a lunch for himself and Asagi as he waited for her to wake up. Usually, it didn't take her long once he started moving around in her domain, but today she seemed to be sleeping in.

Eventually she made her way out of her bedroom yawning, "Morning," she offered as she came into the living room.

"Good morning Asagi. How did you sleep?" He finished packing their supplies and tied the bag shut tight.

"Alright," She shrugged and crossed her arms over her chest, blinking as she woke up, "You think maybe we could not go over and see Hiei today?"

"Why? What brought this on?" He asked sharply.

"I'd like to spend some time with you."

"Oh! Oh, I suppose, well. Hm. I told him yesterday I'd be over in the morning, but we could leave early. He's mostly regained his attitude. The rest should come as he thinks about his history."

Asagi sighed, "Maybe we could stop by and tell them we're going to be doing stuff today?"

"I-I suppose we could do that, yes."

"I understand Hiei is your friend and you care about him, but, you also have a bigger issue here," she poked a nearby tribble.

Kurama sighed and nodded, "I suppose. I mean, I wouldn't feel comfortable leaving until he was ready to leave too."

"How long will that take?"

"I don't know," he shook his head, "He seems to be getting along with Trisha well, but that could change once he gets his memories back in full."

"I'd like to get off this island," Asagi sighed, "Maybe you should just try and bond with Hiei."

Kurama sighed again and took a seat at Asagi's table, "We were laying side by side when we woke up. If we were going to bond, we would have done it then."

"If you start having romantic thoughts about someone your tribble will start to understand you have feelings for them and mark you."

"Look, if you're not comfortable with my friendship with Hiei then we won't work out. Hiei is my partner, and I'm very close to him. I'm always very close to my partners and if you were to be my mate, then I'd be close to you too."

"I'm not uncomfortable with your friendship, I'd like to get off this stupid island with someone I love and I can't spend anytime with you to see if I love you."

"And we'll fix that, we will! I'm not rejecting your idea for telling them that we're doing other things today, I just, need to re-plan what I was considering. I didn't realize that you wanted to try this right now. I was focused on Hiei and I can see that now."

"I don't want to spend another fifty years here, so I'll get dressed and we'll go stop by tell them and hang out," with that, Asagi disappeared back into her bedroom. She reappeared dressed and alert, heading out the door.

Kurama followed, having put away the supplies they'd need to stay over at Trisha's for the day. Instead, just as Asagi suggested, they were brief, and left again. "So," Kurama offered when they finally got out the door, "What would you like to do?"

"Well, we could go for a walk?"

"Ok. Anywhere in particular?"

She shook her head.

"Why don't you show me around town?"

"Alright."

Kurama waited, making a sweeping gesture, "After you. I can't very well show myself around town."

Asagi chuckled and started away from the house, "What would you like to see first? The boring parts or the exciting parts?"

"Let's do the boring first so we can strike up a good conversation." Kurama followed at her side taking her lead.

Asagi nodded and started towards the rest of the houses, "I don't think I ever showed you how many people we do have in this little village," she gestured to the buildings.

"How is it you came to reside in this particular village?"

"It has the largest market, so the furs sell pretty well."

"How did you get your house?"

"It may have been a combination of trade and threat," She chuckled.

He did as well. "How many people are still in the village who were here when you joined it?"

She whistled, "A lot, I've seen a few couples leave, but most of them are still here."

"So really, the deeper you are on the island, the longer people stick around. It must be because of how little new blood gets this far in."

"Sort of, yeah. The closer you are to the border the newer the blood, but sometimes you get some new people deep in because they're curious."

Kurama studied the people who were beginning to pause and whisper out their windows, "It seems like that should be the other way around. If what we were told is true, then the people on the edge have the highest rate of success getting off the island."

"They do and they don't. In a way, the deeper you are in, and the longer you are in, allows you to develop feelings for people you didn't have when you first came in."

"But, if the newest people who come in are your only chances for success, because you've already pilfered the rest of the island's possibilities, then wouldn't you want to remain on the edge so new blood coming in would be quickly accessible and you could get to them before someone else?"

"Yeah. I used to hang out near the edge, but after awhile I just gave up and holed myself up here."

"So then, the farther into the island, the less hope they feel of getting off."

She nodded, "The deeper, the more depressed. Most of us just hang in there for that chance we might get off, but we all know deep down we'll probably be stuck here for eternity."

Kurama sighed, "Well, don't lose hope Asagi. It is possible to get off the island after being stuck on it for a while."

"If you say so."

"It is." They reached the end of a street and a mass of women were standing there gawking from behind the corner of a building. Kurama glared at them. "Great."

Asagi chuckled, "Just show your tribble doesn't like them." She took his arm.

"But they'll know I'm already paired with you, won't they?"

"Exactly, but still,"

"But tribbles don't respond when you're already paired."

She sighed, "That's true. Let's just hope they don't get violent."

"How?"

"Competition is hard here," Asagi murmured, "I've had my share of women and men try to run me off people, and I've done the same."

Kurama brought Asagi over to the group and placed her in front of himself, with his hands on his shoulders. He addressed them. "I am currently courting this woman. If I get a whiff that any of you have so much as looked at her wrong, or challenged her for that right, then I will despise all of you irrefutably, which means, I'll hate your guts forever and ever and I'm never going to want anything to do with any of you. Do I make myself clear?"

Several of their heads bobbed.

"Good. Just one of you could fuck it up for all of you, so keep an eye on one another, I do not want to be fought over like someone's property." he snapped viciously at the lot of them. "It is my choice who I want to court! Tribbles be damned!" With that, he turned, looping his arm with Asagi's, and strode away.

Asagi chuckled, "That was impressive."

He sighed heavily, "I really don't like being a prize."

"No?" She glanced up at him.

"The first time I came here, I was just looked at as a sexual object. They fought over me, tried to wager who could give me the best sex, basically decided among themselves who got a shot at me, and in the end, I did fall for the one they chose as a winner. It was disgusting, honestly."

"You were here before?" She paused.

Kurama sighed heavily and paused as well. He looked at her for a while, considering what to say, but nodded, "Yes. A long time ago. A long, long time ago. Nearly three millennia ago."

"Oh. I'm sorry." Asagi frowned, "What happened?"

"To the one I left with?" He sighed and dragged her along to keep walking, "Well, we left, we loved each other, we had kids, a life; then I got bored. I started branching out, I lost interest, and she lost interest. We fell out of love. Our kids grew, moved out, moved on, and we just, never saw each other again. I don't know if she's alive or not, or if any of our kids lived. I didn't keep up with them, just like I don't keep up with my demon parents," he shrugged. "It's the cycle I suppose. Spirit foxes aren't really attached to family units after the first hundred years. We need, a partner, someone we're close to, like Hiei is for me, but it doesn't have to be sexual."

"That makes me extremely skeptical as to how long you'd stay with me."

He laughed, "I suppose you should be. I'd say it would probably be a good three or four hundred years at least." He shrugged. "It depends on a lot of new variables actually. I had a human mother, human love, hell, a human life, and that's changed a lot of the ways I think."

Asagi paused and took his hands, looking up at him, "I think you should try to get off with Hiei."

Kurama held her hands in return and stared into her eyes, "But I'm not sexually attracted to Hiei. He's tiny and young."

"You can become attracted to him if you think about it."

"Can I? How do you know I'm gay at all? I might dislike the idea of there being two penises in a bed."

"You don't seem like you'd be against it."

He chuckled, "Regardless of what I can be attracted to, I think of Hiei more as a sibling than a sexual partner. Sure, I could change that, but right now, I have you. I don't have to."

Asagi sighed, "I don't know."

"Asagi, if you, if you don't want to be with me, then that's okay, but you need to know that four hundred years is a long time to stay in love with someone."

"It is." She agreed.

"And it's not like I'd end it like a contract, it would be a mutual separation if that was what happened. If it didn't, then I wouldn't leave. I just, I have experience with this. I tend to change partners every one to four hundred years or so."

Asagi sighed again, "Yeah?"

"Yeah. It's been about a forty years since Hiei and I have been together in our partnership."

"That's not long."

"No, it's not, but we've already had our breaks in the past. Hiei's a quiet soul."

"He seems like it."

"So, Asagi, what do you think? Do you still think we could match up?"

She sighed, "Maybe, probably."

"Maybe is good enough for them, it might as well be for us too."

She smiled softly and nodded.

"Let's go find something exciting." he let out his best playful grin.

Asagi considered it, "Something exciting? Well, we got some dancers?"

"Is that the exciting part of the tour? Dancers?" He frowned, disappointed.

"Well, I've been here so long the exciting parts have become normal," She laughed, "But the exciting part doesn't have to be out in town," She winked at him.

He grinned, "I like the way you think."

She tapped his shoulder and darted a few feet, "Come on," she grinned.

He followed her eagerly at a jog.


	3. Chapter 3

Hiei woke with a start and jerked out of his laying position, falling off the bed. He gasped quickly as he grabbed the floor. Trisha grabbed his arms, "Hiei! Hiei, it's alright! It's alright, you're safe." This wasn't the first night he'd had nightmares, but it was the first time he fell out of bed.

Hiei jerked, shoving her off, "That fucking Fox! Where the fuck is that fucking Fox!" He shouted loudly.

"Uh, he's at Asagi's, don't you remember?" Trisha righted herself and adjusted her tank top.

He got to his feet and grabbed her arm, throwing her over his shoulder, "We're going to see that stupid Fox!"

"Hiei! I'm not dressed right for this!" She complained. She was just in the tank top and shorts.

"I don't give a shit!" He bolted out of the house and hopped through the open window, setting Trisha down as he raced to the bedroom, "Fox! Fox! Get the fuck up!"

Kurama groaned and rolled over burying his head in Asagi's hair, "Go away Hiei," he yawned.

"You bastard!" Hiei grabbed him by his arm and pulled him upright, "You fucking bastard! You're the one who got us trapped here!"

"What?" Kurama sat up, pushing at Hiei's hand. He yawned. "What do you mean? Yusuke did this to us."

"No he didn't! I remember, we got drunk and came here, you were talking about this stupid fucking place and we crossed the border of it! You fucking fuck!" Hiei punched him in the nose, but a barrier popped up and protected Kurama's nose.

"Hiei, that can't be right. Why would I want to come here?"

"It is! I don't know, you were talking about love and that sappy bullshit! You said how this place is a hot-spot for all the love you could ever want! You can't leave without it!"

"I don't remember any of that Hiei." Kurama was more awake now, focusing on him, glaring.

"I do!" Hiei shouted, "Yusuke just had to get us drunk! Fuck!" He kicked the bed. "That two-faced bastard even came on the fucking island with us but didn't get a tribble because of Keiko! He just left!"

"Can we not break my bed please?" Asagi asked softly.

Hiei glared at her, growling.

Kurama slipped off the bed, butt naked, and grabbed Hiei's arm which held his own, "Hiei, you have to calm down. Obviously your Jagan is to blame for this."

"No! It didn't create some memories you bastard! You're the one who did all of this!" Hiei yelled.

"Be that as it may or may not be," Kurama shouted back, "We're still stuck here just the same as before!"

"When we got off this fucking island I'm going to skin your precious hide and use it as my rug!"

"I'd like to see you try," Kurama snapped right back.

Hiei growled and squeezed his arm tighter, "Or maybe I'll just kill whomever you fall in love with and throw you back into this stupid hell!"

"Or maybe you should just leave on your own!" Kurama snapped back.

"I can't leave on my own! I need someone to get off this stupid island!"

"Well it doesn't have to be with me! We can get off this island at our own separate times Hiei, I don't care! I didn't have to wait around for a month for you to recover just for this shit!"

Asagi shifted from her spot and sat up, wrapping the sheets around her as she scooted to the edge of the bed and reached around Kurama's waist to touch his hips, "Come back to bed."

"Hiei needs to learn what it is to be bitch slapped on Tribble," Kurama threatened.

"You can do that later," Her hand descended lower.

Hiei yelped, "Ew! God! What the hell?" He shoved Kurama back onto the bed, releasing his arm. Kurama wasn't so quick to let him go, but after a firm yank, he didn't have much of a choice. He'd sat beside Asagi when Hiei shoved him, so with Hiei free, and racing out of the room, he just had to lean sideways to be with Asagi.

Hiei bolted down the hall to Trisha, "We need to get out of here!" He barked as he rushed over to her, "Fucking bastard Fox!"

They heard a squeal of elation.

"Fucking?" Trisha questioned.

Hiei scooped her up and hopped out of the window, racing back to her house.

"You're running away because they're having sex?"

"Shut up!" Hiei barked.

"Hey, no, no, I'm fine with that."

Hiei set her down inside her house when he hopped through that window and rubbed at his face, "God dammit."

"Is it because it's Kurama, or because it's sex?" Trisha asked, curiously.

"Shut up!" Hiei shouted, "Just stop." His chest felt heavy, and he made his way over to the couch to sit down and calm his nerves.

Trisha waited for a little while, weighing her decision, then came over with a glass for each of them. "Here."

Hiei took it and sipped it, "Thanks."

She sat down beside him. "You're easy company Hiei, I like that about you."

Hiei glanced at her and sighed, "Whatever."

"I've been here, oh, it's been a long time, maybe sixty years? I don't expect I'll ever find someone I could leave with though. Once I realized what this place was, I sort of resigned myself to that."

"I don't want to listen to your moping." He snapped.

"I'm not moping, actually," She sighed, and drank her cup, "You see, a lot of people here are really into sex, and I'm not."

"I don't care!" He barked, "I don't." He sighed and deflated against the couch.

"Look, I don't get it, honestly, I can't, but what I do know is this; if you left because they were going to be, procreating, then we'll probably be a good fit." She stood, and finished her cup.

"Does it matter?"

Her face fell, "So it was because of him? You love him, don't you?"

Hiei glared at her, "He's my partner."

Trisha sighed, "Well, if you love him, there's no place for me."

Hiei swallowed a few times and got up to pace, "Shut up."

"Look, I'm not judging you, and I'm not going to tell. I just, want to know. I mean, I honestly have no hope of finding someone who doesn't want a distinctly physical relationship," she shrugged, "so whether we're marked or not, doesn't matter to me."

Hiei sighed, "He doesn't love me."

"Yeah, I have to agree." Trisha sat on the arm of a chair, studying him.

Hiei shook his head, "It's always been like this." He paused, "Why am I telling you this?"

Trisha laughed, "I'm a third party who isn't going to tell your shit to anyone."

Hiei grunted and folded his arms, "I… I have feelings for the Fox."

"You left in a hurry because you're jealous, it makes you upset to see him with another person."

Hiei nodded.

"Mm, man I get it, I mean," she sighed, "I tried to have this relationship once as an asexual, and it backfired hard because they started banging other people in town and used the excuse of my asexuality to say I had no right to complain."

Hiei rolled his eyes.

"Hey, if I'm going to be listening to your crappy shit, I get to expound on it with my own!" Trisha defended.

"I wasn't rolling my eyes at you."

She frowned, "You weren't?"

"No."

"Huh, I... " she frowned, "That's new. Usually people think I'm lying, or try to prove that sex is the best thing ever."

Hiei shrugged, "I don't see why you'd lie about that, besides, if I really wanted to know, I have a Jagan."

She chuckled, "Yeah, you do." Trisha sighed, "Alright, so what's your plan?"

Hiei shook his head, "I don't know."

"Well, you've got two options, let him break your heart in silence, or reveal yourself to him and put the ball back in his court. I mean, clearly right now he does not have strong sexual feelings towards you."

"I like the second one." Hiei offered.

"So, you'd rather try to cultivate an emotional relationship with this man who's not shown any romantic interest in you, than keep quiet and see if he can find love somewhere else on this island?"

"And watch him go out with them? No. I don't care if it's not, physical," He frowned, "I just, like the Fox."

Trisha nodded, "Alright, so, can I make a request for our last night together?"

"What?"

"I, um," she flushed and sighed, "Forget it. It's stupid." She trotted up the stairs.

"Just tell me." He followed after her, curious.

Trisha flushed and shifted from foot to foot, watching him, her chin down. "I, um, I like… god, this is stupid."

"Just tell me." He repeated.

"I like to… I..." Trisha grit her teeth and steeled her nerves. "I want to snuggle with you for the night!"

Hiei blinked a few times and frowned, "Alright."

"Really?" Her eyes flashed wide.

"I don't see why not."

"I just, it's been… I like the warmth of, of a sleeping partner. It gives me good dreams."

Hiei scooped her up and headed for the bedroom, "Then we'll snuggle."

Trisha grinned and once they were both settled on the bed, awkwardly spooned up close to him. "Thank you, Hiei." She sighed into a tired yawn.

Hiei grunted, "Go to sleep."

Kurama woke up feeling Hiei come close to the house. He yawned loudly and sat up, confused. He didn't feel Trisha. He slipped out from under the sheet he'd tossed over the two of them to keep the chill off, and pulled it up over Asagi's chest, sitting on the side of the bed rubbing his face. The one problem with an active sex life was that he woke up slower.

Kurama tottered to his feet and waltzed into the shower to clean up and try to be presentable for the little fire demon.

When he was finally done and made his way into the living room Hiei was pacing around the room with his head ducked down, but he paused when Kurama came in and watched him, "Fox." He greeted softly.

Kurama yawned, "Good morning Hiei, how are you today?" He settled lazily on the familiar couch.

"Morning Fox, well, ah," Hiei shook his head and unclenched his fists, "I'm fine. I have some things I need to… tell you."

Kurama sat forward and focused on the little demon. "What is it Hiei?" He wasn't sure if he should expect 'I'm sorry' from the little spitfire or not, but considering how Hiei had ranted at him for getting them stuck in this mess, that was exactly what Kurama wanted, despite what he expected. He expected something more like 'this sucks and I just want to get out of here' rather than anything resembling an apology.

"I didn't," Hiei frowned and shifted, "I didn't mean to upset you yesterday. I'm frustrated with everything and I can't punch anything living so," He sighed heavily.

Kurama smiled, that was what he expected, just not the words he expected. It was the same tone. He understood. Hiei didn't want to leave, he didn't want to be pushed away either. He still wanted to get through this together, somehow. "I'm not going to leave you behind Hiei, I was just, escalating."

Hiei nodded, "Fox, I have, something else to tell you," He frowned and crossed his arms, staring at the man, ducking his chin, "I… I-uh…"

"Well if you can't say it, why not try to explain the subject?"

Hiei shifted uncomfortably and swallowed loudly, "Fox, I," he straightened out, squaring his shoulders, taking a deep breath, he nearly barked, "Fox, I have feelings for you."

Kurama flushed and frowned, "Hiei?"

"What?" Hiei nearly squeaked.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Hiei murmured.

"What, uh, what makes you bring up feelings then?"

"I was, just, talking to Trisha, and," Hiei frowned, "I decided to tell you."

"Is that why you're, not with Trisha? You…." He couldn't say it himself. It was difficult to express.

"I, want to… I don't know Fox." Hiei sighed, "I have feelings for you."

"Feelings." Kurama repeated. "Like, you're, attracted, to me?"

Hiei nodded quickly.

Kurama blushed, his chin dropping, "And, uh, when, uh, when did this start?" He swallowed, and adjusted to sit more formally, crossing his legs and folding his hand on his lap.

"I don't know, years ago."

Kurama frowned, "You've liked me for years? Why didn't you say anything?"

"You never seemed interested, and I didn't… want to hurt our friendship."

Kurama sighed, "Hiei, come sit down. This isn't going to hurt our friendship, I can promise you that." He patted the spot beside him and gave his best amiable look.

Hiei came over slowly and sat down, crossing his arms, taking a glance at Kurama before he watched his feet.

"Hiei, I didn't even know you were interested in intercourse, this is a bit of a shock to me."

"Fox," Hiei whined, "I like you. I just," he leaned back into the couch, trying to hide.

"You just, what?" Kurama pushed. He leaned back on the couch too, and watched out the window so they would have some privacy as they spoke.

"I don't know Fox. I want to know your answer."

"You're, you're my partner Hiei. I've always been attached to you."

"But do you feel the same way?"

"Well, it's weird. I used to have sexual fantasies about you for a while, when I was going through that hormonal teenage phase especially, but it's been so long, and I've always thought that you, you were never going to be interested in me like that."

"Fox, I want you as like," Hiei frowned and shifted, "Keiko and Yusuke. Like that."

"Aside from the whole 'Keiko is going to age and die' thing?"

"Yes."

Kurama sat in silence for a while, considering what Hiei said. He had no doubt that he loved Hiei, deeply loved him. The problem was the age gap, and their general personalities. Hiei was explosive, and Kurama tended to be implosive until he couldn't take it any longer. Both of them were obstinate. Still, what could he say? Right now, he was trying to cultivate a relationship with Asagi. He'd been enjoying the physical side of that relationship and ignoring the mental side of it, but she was a nice enough woman. A little, shy, and clingy, but that was everyone in a new relationship.

"Fox?"

If there was a chance he could be with his partner, he wanted to try it. He always enjoyed his relationships best when it was with his partner, but could a relationship between them work? It could be dangerous to their friendship if it didn't.

"I told you you should try a relationship with him." Asagi said from behind them.

Kurama jumped when he heard her voice. "A-Asagi, when did you ...," he stood and flushed, sheepish like he'd been doing something wrong.

"Go on." She waved her hand at him, "You can come back if you want."

Kurama flushed and sighed, "Alright. I suppose that settles it then." He reached out for the little fire demon arm, and stole his hand, pulling him up to his feet. "Let's go… go find somewhere quiet."

Hiei nodded, "Alright."

They left Asagi's and headed for the market buying some supplies like blankets, food, pots and pans, and seasonings.

Kurama led Hiei towards the southeastern part of the island into a deep forest that was covered with lamp weed and protective plants like a forbidden, haunted roost. At first, the plants drooled and approached the two of them, but after a little bit of Kurama's energy, they left them well enough alone.

They came to a small house surrounded by gardens which looked like it had seen years of neglect, but, being mostly logs and vines, Kurama was quickly able to repair it, and with a little bit of work, seal the roof. He led Hiei inside and pushed open the windows letting the dust fly out.

"Fox." Hiei sighed.

Kurama turned from opening up an empty cupboard and batting it out with a rag. "Hm?"

"Would you stop already?"

Kurama sighed, "Alright, fine, but this place needs some help."

Hiei nodded and crossed his arms, "So," he frowned.

"Right." Kurama went over to an old wood table with two chairs, and beat them off, then took a seat.

Hiei took a seat and rubbed at his nose, "So Fox, what…"

"We, we might not have to stay here long. I'm not sure. It depends on these guys," he poked the tribble in his belt.

He nodded and sighed, leaning forward, "Fox, what do we do now?"

"Well, if you want Keiko and Yusuke, we argue a lot because we care for one another and perform a certain unique harassment."

"I meant, a bond like theirs." He frowned.

Kurama chuckled, "I know Hiei, you want us to be, oh, I don't know how to describe it exactly, bonded?"

Hiei nodded.

They sat in silence as the sun began to settle leaving the forest with an aura of blue lamp weed. "Hiei, do you want to play a game?"

"What game?"

"It wouldn't be… it'd be to help, rekindle, certain feelings, we might have buried for one another?" He flushed to think of it, but more-so to think of his lack of desire for Hiei's body, when Hiei wanted this relationship.

"Go on."

"The game is this," He swept himself up and over to the cupboards, rinsed off some utensils and cooking tools, and came back over setting them on the wiped down table. "It's a game of winning points."

Hiei waited, watching him.

"The one who can come up with the sexier action with the object, wins the point."

Hiei frowned but nodded, "Alright."

"We both have to use the same object for each round, and judge which one of us won the round."

"Alright."

"Are there any objects you'd like to add?" Kurama gestured towards the table.

Hiei pulled out his sword and set it on the table, smirking.

"Maybe we should wash that first," Kurama commented softly, his ears flicking back as his mind raced with an attempt to figure out how to make a sword sexy. He had a few ideas, but none of them were clothed.

Hiei shrugged and added his scarf, "We don't have to use it."

"Well, yes we do. We'll go through the objects on the table one by one."

"Get out your whip Fox."

Kurama flushed, "That… okay." He pulled it out and lay it on the table coiled up. "Anything else?"

Hiei frowned and shrugged, taking his sword back, "Let's not use this."

"Anything else you want to reject?"

"Nope."

"We have to decide on an order of the objects now."

Hiei shrugged, "Let's do the utensils first."

"And then the rest of it." Kurama organized the items accordingly. "Shall we flip a coin, see who is going first?"

Hiei nodded.

"Do you pick heads or tails?" Kurama pulled out a coin.

"Heads."

"Do you want to go first or second?"

"We're flipping a coin," Hiei reminded him.

"I know, but if you win the flip, do you want to go first or second? I mean, if you win, then you should get what you want."

"I don't care Fox. Whom ever gets their side of the coin goes first."

Kurama nodded, and flipped the coin. He caught it and revealed heads. "Looks like you're going first." Kurama pushed the spoon over to him and sat back with a smirk.

Hiei picked up the spoon and examined it for a little while, turning it over in his hands. He smirked eventually and licked up the spoon a few times, twirling his tongue around the handle. He set it down when he was done and grinned, "Go Fox."

Kurama chuckled, "I should have expected you would be quick with this game." He took the spoon and stood, gently touching Hiei's knee with the head of it, and slowly dragged it up Hiei's to chest, coming up behind him as he distracted Hiei's focus with the slow progression of the spoon, teasing his nipple with it and trailing it up to Hiei's lips. There, he took the spoon from his fingers, to his mouth, and kissed Hiei with the spoon between them using it to open Hiei's lips.

Hiei grunted and sat back, "Damn Fox," he chuckled.

"Well I sort of know how to play the game," Kurama snickered and retreated to his seat, leaving the spoon on his side of the table.

Hiei picked up the whisk and frowned, rolling it across the table as he mused. He took the larger end of it and stuck it in his mouth, making sucking noises. After a minute he removed it and wiped at his tongue, "That was, stupid," he tossed it at Kurama.

Kurama licked the whisk gingerly, running his tongue along each metal wire from one end that protruded from the handle, to the other. Each time he got to a part that was a little wet with Hiei's saliva, he squirmed slightly in his chair, and glanced up at the little demon.

Hiei flushed and covered his mouth, "You're obviously winning Fox."

"You'll get better at it." He set the whisk aside with the spoon.

Hiei eyed the spatula and picked it up, turning it around as he tried to figure out what to do with it, "I don't know Fox."

"Take your time. You've basically only tried one thing so far Hiei, try something new."

Hiei moved the spatula around more before he smacked it against his hand and grinned, looking up at Kurama. He got out of his chair and smacked it against his hand as he made his way around the table, "Well Foxy?"

Kurama watched him nervously, flushing. "W-uh, what're you…?"

"Stand up."

"Oh, I don't think so Dragon," Kurama jerked out of his seat and backed away from the fire demon.

"No Fox? I always thought you liked pain."

"Come on Hiei," He laughed nervously, "It's a spatula, it's not a paddle."

"Come here Fox."

"There is no way I'm subjecting myself to you beating me with a spatula!" He bolted away from Hiei. Hiei chased after him and caught up to him easily in the house, cornering him near the bed. When Kurama dove to the left, Hiei caught him around the waist and smacked his rear end with it lightly. He stuffed it in Kurama's belt when he finished and let the fox go.

Kurama stood there awkwardly for a little while, trying to decide if he should run or not.

"Go on Fox, it's your turn."

"Heh, right." He took the spatula in hand, flipping it a few times. "I, um, I forgot what I was going to do with this."

"Take your time Fox."

Kurama sat on the bed and studied the object, "Oh! I remember." He stood and approached Hiei with a long stride.

Hiei took a step away from him, nervous.

"Come here little Spitfire," Kurama practically purred.

"Ha," Hiei took a few more steps back.

"But you're going to enjoy this." He made a sweeping reach with his arm trying to catch the little fire demon.

Hiei frowned and paused, waiting.

When he had Hiei secured against his chest, he gently touched the spatula to his chin, and pulled it down using it as a lever to open Hiei's mouth, then kissed him tenderly, and let their tongues dance together.

Hiei jerked back after a few minutes and grabbed the spatula, waving it in the air, "We have more things Fox."

Kurama opened his mouth to retort, but sighed, "I suppose we do. What ever are you going to do with a pan?"

"You'll see." Hiei trotted over to the table and grabbed the pan, he frowned for a moment and gave a heftier smack on his hand.

Kurama broke out laughing.

"What? I could use it to knock you out." He mused.

That just made Kurama laugh harder.

Hiei made his way over to Kurama and looked up at him, "The pan is basically a bigger spatula."

Kurama collected himself gradually, "I just," he chuckled again, "It's just, I was thinking you might try that since it worked last time."

Hiei smacked his hand a few more times and shrugged, stepping forward and placing the bottom of the pan against Kurama's stomach, rubbing it in slow circles down to his hips.

Kurama flushed and lost his amused mirth in favor of curiosity. When Hiei was satisfied with his work, he handed the pan to Kurama and stepped back. Kurama ran the pan up into the folds of his shirt, and used it to push it open giving Hiei a sly grin as he put his body into the display, flashing his eyes at him with his playful little smirk. When he'd gotten it off, so it was just hanging from his belt, he slowly trailed the pan down his navel, watching it's progress himself to attract Hiei's eyes that direction, and stopped at the edge of his belt, glancing coyly up at the fire demon.

Hiei smirked, stepping forward and touching the handle, "Let me take that off your hands."

Kurama huffed at him, "Fine."

Hiei took it and set it down, grabbing the cup.

Kurama re-clothed himself and returned to his seat.

Hiei sighed and considered the cup before he puffed his cheeks up like he had something in his mouth and made a spitting motion into the cup, handing it to Kurama.

Kurama frowned, "Are you really that out of ideas?"

"Yes."

Kurama chuckled and took the cup. He looked it over for a moment, then began to lick the length of the outside with soft moans each time he got to the rim of the cup. After he'd gone around the entire thing, he danced his tongue around the open circle staring Hiei in the eye.

Hiei swallowed hard and sat down heavily, "Damn Fox."

He set the cup down with the spoon and whisk, "Well it's a rim," he shrugged.

Hiei picked up his scarf and laid it out on the table. He laid an arm down and started tying it around his wrist, and finished off the other one. He stood and made his way around the table, kneeling beside Kurama with a grin.

Kurama flushed hard staring down at him, "Um, what're you doing?"

Hiei offered his hands to Kurama, "I'm all yours Fox."

A hand shot up to cover Kurama's lips as he stared down at the little fire demon, flushing bright red. He held his breath.

Hiei smirked and rested his chin on Kurama's thigh, waiting.

"This is no fair, you're playing to my human sentimentality!" He snapped in a high, very Shuichi voice for the silver youko.

He shrugged and stood, untying his wrists, dropping the scarf in Kurama's lap.

Kurama took it and flipped it over Hiei's head, dropping it down to his waist and pulled the little fire demon close, capturing him between his legs, "It's supposed to be sexier, not, not, more romantic," he scolded, still pouting about it.

"Whatever Fox."

"Well usually this game ends in sex." He shifted in the chair and leaned forward and nuzzled against Hiei's shoulder, finding the folds of Hiei's cloak, tugging it off with his teeth.

Hiei glanced back at him, curious.

When he spit it out, letting it drop with a little bit of shuffling on the scarf's part, he winked at the little fire demon and leaned over to Hiei's side, tugging at his shirt with his teeth too, using them to get beneath it, and then kissing gently up Hiei's side, using the scarf to drag Hiei's shirt up to reveal fresh skin to kiss.

Hiei shivered and tried to escape, "Fox, that's, sensitive!"

"Uh huh," he panted hotly against Hiei's skin. He followed the top of Hiei's abs around to his front and tightened his hold on the scarf to keep the fire demon still.

Hiei put a hand on Kurama's head, "We have one more item Fox."

"Mmm, Hiei, we can take all night," he whispered, his lips tickling between Hiei's pectoral muscles on his solar plexus.

"Fox," Hiei whined.

"You said you're mine Hiei," Kurama reminded sensually, and loosened his hold on the scarf enough to weave it between a couple fingers, and hold it that way, lacing his fingers beneath Hiei's shirt to pull it off the rest of the way, holding Hiei in place with his thighs.

Hiei grabbed for the whip, cracking it against the table.

Kurama jerked back and stared at where it had damaged the wood, then looked up at Hiei. "What? You don't like my fun?"

"We have the whip still, don't make it sharp, make it just, a vine," Hiei requested.

"Well it's not a vine Hiei, it's a rose."

"Dull the thorns."

Kurama sighed heavily, "I'm afraid I can't do that. It's a rose. However, if you want a whip without thorns I can provide that too." He reached for his hair.

"Yes, do that, this will hurt otherwise."

Kurama paused in his selection and locked eyes with the fire demon, pensive.

"Go on Fox, you'll like it."

"I might get hurt in battle frequently but I'm not a masochist." He pulled out a seed and began growing it. It sprouted into a vine with a lot of off shooting tendrils. He plucked those off as it grew, tossing them aside.

Hiei took it when he was done and set the rose whip aside. He took both ends of the whip in hand and moved it over Kurama's head, pulling him close for a kiss.

Kurama leaned into the kiss willingly and shifted forward in his chair to press their bodies closer together. Hiei grinned against his lips and abandoned the whip in favor of crawling into Kurama's lap, wrapping his arms around his neck. Kurama moaned in delight and caught Hiei's butt with the scarf hoisting him closer and leaned back in the chair to give Hiei some room to maneuver as he needed to.

Hiei scooted up closer and chuckled, leaning back, "So Fox," he picked up the whip, "Your turn," he kissed him softly.

Kurama traded the scarf for the whip tying it around Hiei's legs like a harness, and pulled off the fire demon's shirt. Once he had the shirt discarded, he stood with the fire demon glued to him because of the whip, and retreated to the bed, where he abandoned the whip and traced his fingers down Hiei's hips, beneath his pants attempting to strip him the rest of the way.


	4. Chapter 4

Kurama yawned loudly and pulled Hiei closer, spooning with the fire demon, "I won."

"Yeah, whatever." Hiei grunted.

"I did," he chuckled. He trailed his fingers along the muscles in Hiei's abdomen.

Hiei shifted to roll onto his back, watching Kurama, "Fox," he asked softly.

"Hm?"

"Is this going to work?"

"I don't know Hiei, but I know I'm sexually attracted to you too, and I know I've felt very close to you ever since you came into my life." He reached up and ran his fingers through Hiei's hair.

"Maybe we can get off this damn island," Hiei touched Kurama's shoulder, drawing designs on it.

Kurama watched his finger, curious what he was drawing, "We'll get off of here one way or another Hiei, of that, i have faith."

"Good." Hiei smiled, "But next time we get you drunk, one of us is not getting drunk."

Kurama laughed, "There's nowhere else like this in my past Hiei." His smile fell and he sighed heavily, "It's not very often I feel this way either." He rolled onto his back staring up at the thatched roof.

Hiei followed him, half laying on his chest, playing with his hair, "Do I need to get you drunk?"

Kurama wrapped his arms around Hiei's waist, lacing his fingers together, "No, I just need time with it."

"Alright Fox." Hiei rested his head against Kurama's shoulder and sighed, closing his eyes.

After about an hour of Hiei feigning sleep, listening to Kurama's heart, he felt his breathing shift into quick inhales and pauses before he exhaled slowly. He felt some of his muscles twitch and tense as the fox struggled with himself.

"Fox?" Hiei opened his eyes, "Fox, I'm here." He looked up at him and saw how wet his eyes were, and the distraught tautness of his face as he tried to bite back the pain.

"I shouldn't have thought about it," he whined, letting Hiei go. He pushed him away and sat up turning his back on him and digging the heels of his hands against his eyes, folded over.

"It's alright Fox," Hiei sat up and touched his back gently, rubbing at his shoulders.

The fox's tail wrapped around his waist and he let go of his breath, gasping for a bit as his lungs filled with air again.

Hiei sighed and rested his cheek against his back, wrapping his arms around Kurama, "It's okay Fox."

"She's gone Hiei," Kurama broke, crying. "She's gone."

Hiei nodded, "I know Fox, I know she's gone," he tightened his grip.

That didn't help stop Kurama's tears, but he did grab onto Hiei's arms with a death-grip.

"She's gone, but she wouldn't want you to dwell on it, she'd want you to be happy," Hiei frowned, he'd seen someone do this, and it had seemed to work, but he was skeptical with Kurama.

"I know she'd want me to be happy but how can I be!" Kurama snapped loudly. "I miss her. I miss her so much Hiei."

"I miss her too Fox." Hiei squeezed him.

"I know, I know you do. I just, I feel like someone's gutted me like a pumpkin and then taken a bat to me and left me out in a storm."

"Wherever she is Fox, she's at peace, and she's thinking about her smiling son."

"Stop trying to sound like a condoling human," Kurama snapped. "We know what's really happening Hiei. We know what happens when we die. She doesn't have any crimes to pay for so she is going to be reborn, tossed back out onto this world in some body that will never know us, and could never remember."

"But just remember what she told you, before she passed away." Hiei winced, "It hurts, but," Hiei sighed, "I don't know how to help you Fox. I can't, tell you it's better."

"You don't need to, Hiei. You don't need to help me. I need to just, just get it out of my system. It's an emotion, and it's going to be there for a while."

Hiei nodded against his back, "But Fox, I do think, for whatever time she spent at peace, she probably just thought of you, if that helps."

He sighed, "It doesn't. You remember," he frowned and sat up enough to look over his shoulder, spying Hiei's hair, "You remember the first time I almost lost her?"

Hiei nodded.

The fox dragged Hiei out from behind him and lay across the bed, pulling Hiei down with him so they were laying together. "I was so, upset, so frustrated that inevitably she would die before me. I just, couldn't take it. I had to find something that would fix it."

"Fox, any human parent thinks their child needs to live longer, and not die first."

He sighed, "I know, but I wasn't thinking like a human. I was thinking like a demon, caring for this fragile girl who barely knew the shadows."

"She lived a long life Fox."

"I did everything I could to make it longer," he swallowed and met Hiei's eyes, wrapping his arms around his stomach. "Everything. I tried everything I could think of that wouldn't outright turn her into a demon. This time, just like last time, I couldn't give her up. Eventually, I nearly turned her, but Yusuke caught on to what I was doing. He stopped me, beat some sense into me." Kurama sighed heavily.

"I don't think she'd be happy as a demon," Hiei shrugged.

"No, she wouldn't have been. I was just so, so deep in denial that I couldn't imagine a life without her. I couldn't grasp her mortality."

"It's hard," Hiei agreed, "I've been thinking about when the oaf will die, what Yukina will do."

"She's trying to convince him to take the Makaiko root."

"I don't think he will, some kind of stupid honor code of his." Hiei huffed, "Or Keiko. Shizuru," he sighed.

Kurama sighed too, and reached for the little fire demon. He slipped his arms around his waist and shifted over so they were closer. "I know Shizuru won't take a Makaiko Root, she's too headstrong."

"Shame really, she'd make a great demon, strong enough to kick Enki's ass."

Kurama chuckled, "I've offered it to her, she just, believes in generations."

"Stupid girl." Hiei sighed.

"Well she does have children."

"It'd be hard when they died, but she'd get so angry she'd take over Demon World."

"She might just do that for fun. I've considered just infecting her with it anyway, see what happens. Brew a special tea."

Hiei chuckled, "I want to see that."

"I offered it to her lineage too, her, her husband, her kids," Kurama shrugged. "She said 'The reason I'm so strong is because I'm mortal and you bastards get lazy after about twenty years.'"

"It's hard to imagine such mortal things can have such strong souls." Hiei mused.

"Yeah. Yusuke and Keiko are resigned. Yusuke sees her death coming, and so does Keiko, and Keiko, I don't know, she's just, accepting it. She keeps setting Yusuke up with things, like making him spend more time here, forcing him out to join us."

"That'll be painful to watch when she dies."

"Yeah. I think, the hardest thing about mortality is that you see it coming. I mean, here, in Demon World, you could die at any time. Any movement you make is a risk, so it's easier to just keep moving because even if you don't move, you could die. There, there the enemy is time. There's no chance to it. After a certain point, you die, and you know that's going to be between seventy and a hundred years."

Hiei sighed and shifted, leaning up to kiss Kurama, "Maybe you should just infect the oaf, Keiko, and Shizuru so we don't have to go through all of this again."

"I don't know if they're strong enough to take the transformation any more Hiei. I'm afraid Keiko's last pregnancy was too much for her, and Shizuru, despite her strength of will, is already growing frail in her bones and body. Kuwabara," he sighed, "His younger days have started really catching up with him."

"That's depressing."

"Yeah." Kurama stole a kiss.

Hiei sighed and nuzzled into him, "Let's go to sleep Fox."

Kurama sighed, "Alright, and when we wake up what do you want to do?"

"Eat breakfast?"

"Well we don't exactly have eggs here. I'm afraid the hen-house is empty."

"Find breakfast."

Kurama chuckled, "Yeah, that will probably be on the agenda."

"You can make breakfast."

"Yeah, it looks like the plants in the garden survived well."

Hiei frowned, "Was this your place?"

"Hm? My, uh, my place?"

"You were here before, was this your place?"

Kurama swallowed nervously, "Um, yes. Yes it was. It's not quite how I left it though. Apparently there have been some other foxes on the island."

"Other people probably took it over. It's a nice place."

"Yeah, I had it all self-contained and everything for a long time."

Hiei yawned loudly.

Kurama laced his fingers through Hiei's hair.

"Night Fox."

"Goodnight Hiei."

Kurama woke to Hiei's lips teasing at his neck, and a stinging every time they touched. He groaned and peeled his eyes open, his throat felt rather raw, and strained, so he just shoved Hiei back with a hand on his shoulder, and glared.

"Morning Fox," Hiei grinned down at him.

Kurama yawned, "I'm not getting up yet." He turned over, groaning as he felt the tenderness in his legs and stomach.

"Why not? We need breakfast."

"I'm going to make you fat if I keep feeding you all the time."

"I like food Fox."

"Then go make yourself something. I need more sleep." He pawed about for a blanket, and pulled it over his sore body.

"You want food?"

"No, I need to recover more. You were really rough with me last night. I ache."

"I thought you liked pain."

"I'm not a masochist Hiei. I enjoy a little, challenge, but that's about it. I don't enjoy it being easy, but I'm not a fan of recovering from sex because my body's black and blue."

"Hn," Hiei got off the bed, "You seemed to like it."

"Tch. I'm going to have to teach you to recognize that better." He cuddled with a pillow and fell back to sleep.

He woke up to the fire demon trailing a fingernail down his shoulder. "Hiei, if you're leaving more welts I am not going to be happy with you," he huffed as he pulled his eyes open.

"Mm, no Fox, no welts."

"You know I have a name, right? It'd be nice if you used it once in awhile." He sighed and sat up, He felt mostly better. That was too snippy, he needed to amend the statement, but he couldn't decide how. He know it was a pet-name, an endearment, but Hiei had always used it like he used 'oaf' and 'detective' and despite those two being his friends too, he wanted the respect that 'Mukuro' got because he didn't call her by some nickname, just, 'Mukuro.'

"Fine, Kurama," Hiei licked at a bite mark on his arm, nibbling at the skin there.

Kurama yelped when when Hiei hit a tender spot and pulled away.

"God Fox, if you do that again I might have to bite you more." Hiei grinned.

"Hiei," Kurama said warningly, "that is not my desire."

"No? You really don't like it?"

"No, but apparently me yelping gets you horny, and that is going to be a problem because I only yelp when you've hurt me. It's supposed to convey that I don't like that, and I trust you enough to share that I don't like it."

Hiei sighed and leaned back, "I like your taste Fox."

"Well then, by all means, we can kiss, but, you're …, you've got to be gentler."

"I like it rough Fox."

"I like it sensual."

"I like that too, but I also like the roughness."

"Once in awhile, I'm fine with that, like when I'm really frustrated or I've not had sex in a while, but, I mean, I don't see that being very often."

Hiei sighed and licked at his lips, "Hn."

"Yeah no kidding," Kurama sighed, "It's a bit of a conundrum that we don't match up."

Hiei shrugged, "Yeah, it is. I'm self-evaluating when I say this, but I think my lack of age and experience make me like the rough."

"Probably in part." Kurama reached out for his hand to pull him closer, "I mean, you are a fire demon and you've been rough all your life. It's understandable that you like the control."

Hiei took it, scooting closer, "It's sexy watching you squirm Fo-Kurama."

Kurama smiled and wrapped his arms around Hiei cradling him against his chest, "And I think it's sexy as hell to see you vulnerable side." He sighed and stroked Hiei's cheek gently.

Hiei sighed, "Fox, as much as I like you, I don't know if this will work."

"Looking at our sexual desires, probably not. I mean, I love you, Hiei, but if we don't match up with what makes us get off, we probably will end up fighting too frequently to enjoy each other after about half a decade."

Hiei nodded, "Do you want to go back to Asagi?"

"No, I'm afraid not. She gave me up for you, and I'd rather have someone who had the desire to fight for me rather than the compassion to let me go. Maybe if I don't find someone else, I'll go back to her and let things play out, but," he shrugged, "There are two other people on this island my tribble thinks I would pair with."

"Yeah? I think I have two people too."

"The damn things are probably rigged to pick the top four most likely candidates."

"Probably, or our writers are cruel as fuck."

"Well we know that they are," Kurama chuckled.

"Yeah, pft, fucking writers."

"Yeah." Kurama kissed Hiei's cheek. "Well, let's go find the next ones." Kurama tried to get out of bed and groaned, "Okay, maybe not today." He sighed heavily and lay back down on his stomach.

"Want a hot bath Fox?"

"A hot bath, a massage, and some energy, yes please. Freaking sadist."

Hiei got off the bed with a chuckle to start a bath.

Kurama held up his tribble, listening to it's purrs. He'd mostly healed from his adventure with Hiei, but he still had a few lingering bite marks and scratches. He found the loudest purr direction, inland on the island, and headed that way after confirming with Hiei.

"There must only be four or five towns for so many to have a girl for each of us," Hiei commented as they came to the edge of town. This one had to be the town which produced electricity. It was laid out around a waterfall with a turbine and wires from all sections of the island leading up to it. It also had the most built-up infrastructure and stable looking buildings.

"Probably, this seems like a more industrial town. Whomever we meet here will probably be some kind of demon that can build things, earth, electricity," Kurama shrugged, "Could get interesting."

"Are we going to split up again?"

"I think that'd work to our advantage, we can meet back here like last time."

"Alright, sounds good to me." Hiei held up his tribble to check which side of the city he needed to go to. He jumped off once he caught a direction, and made his way to the western outer edge of town near the entrance to a cave system. He landed at the entrance and looked about for whomever it was he was supposed to be seeing, but he couldn't see anyone nearby. Confused, he moved towards the building, but the tribble quieted, so he moved towards the mine entrance, and again, it quieted. Going back to the courtyard, he tried other directions, only to find that the center of the courtyard seemed to be the loudest place, and yet, no one was around.

Eventually a woman appeared from the mine, "Are you the one making the noise?"

Hiei glanced at the woman and frowned, "The tribble noise, yeah." He backed off a step to give her space without marking her.

"Huh, who are you?" She was his size, covered in dirt and sweat with her boobs nearly falling out of the corset she wore as she shifted in her spot.

"Hiei, I'm newly stuck."

"Ah, Armorda Ray," She offered. She went over to a sink that ran out into rock pile, and started rinsing off the dirt.

"Are you willing to get marked with me?" He called out.

"Sure." She nodded.

He stepped over to her. "Alright. You're a miner?" He didn't see any tools, but she could have left them in the mine, or she might be a demon that could pulverize rock with her hands.

"Yes, a metal demon."

Or just suck the metal straight through the vein, he amended. "Oh, I haven't met one of your kind before. I'm a fire demon."

"I've met plenty of your kind," She chuckled, "We're not too common." She turned to face him, her boobs shiny with water.

"We are," He offered, stuffing his hands in his pockets and examining her eyes. They were an odd purpley shade.

"You are. So, did you track me down with that damn beast?" She pointed at his tribble.

"Yup. I have a friend who's tracking someone else down in town too. We're supposed to meet back up in an hour or so if you're willing to come with me."

"Yeah, I could use a break."

"Did you run the cables on the island?" Hiei asked as he began to lead her away at a walk.

"Most of them, yeah. I've had some other people help out who were knowledgeable with it."

"You do good work. You'd be valuable as an asset to set up communications with Human World off the island."

"Yeah? When I get off the island."

"Hn, I'm getting off one way or another even if I have to kill every last tribble instantaneously."

"Good luck with that," She chuckled.

"I don't need luck, I have the dragon."

"Oh, hey, you're that Hiei," She nodded.

"Yes, I'm that Hiei." He huffed.

She chuckled, "Sorry, I meet so many people it just," she shrugged, "A lot of people get jewelry from me, you might've seen some of it in Market Town."

"Well if it was in Market Town, the Fox might have stolen some of it."

She growled, "Damn foxes."

"No, he's that fox."

"Oh! That Fox," she sighed, "Well, he can keep it," she laughed.

Hiei chuckled too. "What does it look like, I can tell you if he thought it was good enough quality to bother stealing."

"Depends, I've done some different series."

"I guess you'll just have to ask him." They reached the meeting place first and Hiei leaned against a tree watching the town from their place on a cliff.

"So, how'd you manage to get stuck here?"

"Drunken stupidity, you?"

"I was chasing after someone who stole an expensive item from me and got here. I found them and trapped them in a metal sphere and killed them," She shrugged.

"Hn." He crossed his arms, debating how they might be able to use that to escape.

"So, Hiei, what are you into?"

"Getting off the island. I haven't been here long enough to demean myself to a hobby."

"Mm, well, burning tribbles?"

"A good pastime."

She chuckled and pushed her long dark hair back, "Yeah? I like smashing them."

"Hn." This girl was chattier than Trisha, but quieter than Daisy and decidedly not Kurama.

She glanced at him and sighed, "So, any luck so far, are you just finding your matches or what?"

"I've had three matches and here I am?" he wasn't sure what she was talking about.

"Mm," She nodded.

"You?"

"Tch, ten?" She shrugged, "Most of them stayed for awhile but didn't like me after some time."

"Why?"

"I have a bit of a masochistic streak and they didn't like it."

"Hn."

She glanced at him and chuckled, leaning against the tree with him.

"My last mark got a bit peeved that I liked to hear him scream," he commented quietly.

"Ooh," She grinned, "I like screaming."

"Hn." He wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that.

"So, how long you think this foxy boy will take?"

"Probably not much longer."

Kurama followed the purrs from his tribble quickly, making his way through the town to a clean white building. He sighed and opened the door, stepping into a waiting room. He frowned and glanced around, no one else was in the room, so he flared his energy, holding his tribble up to ensure this was the place. It was, with the loud purring answering him. "Hello?" He called.

A strawberry blonde woman stepped out of an office and smiled, "Well hello there," She held up a fluffy white tribble that was purring. "Come on in." She left the door open and retreated inside.

"Are you okay with being marked?" He followed slowly.

"Yes, of course." She took a seat in a plush chair beside a couch and gestured to the couch, "What's your name?"

He took a seat, "Kurama, Youko Kurama."

"I see, that gives you some anxiety to tell me that." She commented.

"I'm not here for help, I'm here because I'm trying to get off the island."

She nodded, "Aren't we all? My name is Rose. I'm an empath here on the island."

"I figured as much when you said I had anxiety."

"Well I don't like keeping people in the dark for long about my abilities."

"Apparently."

"It tends to lead to resentment," she leaned on the arm of her chair, studying him closely.

"Uh huh. So Rose," he smiled, "Uh, what's up?"

"Oh, same old same old, you?"

"Healing," he chuckled.

She frowned, "Healing? I mean, I can see that you're deeply wounded, but that seems to be rather well buried right now."

"No, like, physically." He sighed, "I don't want to talk about those wounds, the mental ones."

"I can see that, and that's fine. I'm sorry I brought them up, I was just a bit confused about your purpose of saying that."

"So, what do you do here?"

"I help people with emotional problems and mental pain. There's a lot of rape on this island that damages people's self-image, and emotional torture since they can't torture them physically." She leaned forward on her crossed legs.

"Heh, if you say so," He crossed his arms, "So you can rape people here? Huh."

"Oh most definitely. The tribbles actually seem to cultivate that sort of environment."

"Beasts."

She nodded again.

"What are your pastimes?"

"Aside from helping people? Oh lords, um," she sat back, "You know, I don't have much but that."

That was discouraging, "Uh huh?"

"Before I came here, I used to do all sorts of things, but this has been rather all-consuming."

"I see."

"It would be nice to get out of here and just be able to enjoy a day alone, honestly," she laughed.

"I need to meet up with a friend soon, would you like to come with?"

"Sure." She stood and tucked her tribble into a pocket.

Kurama stood as well and offered his hand to her with a soft smile. He lead her out of the office and sighed when they were on the street, "So," he offered.

She kept close to his side, "So indeed, where are we meeting him?"

"Near the edge of the town, on a cliff." She wasn't one for conversation apparently.

"You feel like you're, um, may I ask why you're still on the island?"

"Well, the person I love is a little too rough with me so we split it off, he's the person we're meeting." Kurama pulled up a sleeve to show her a bite mark.

"Oh, ouch, that looks like it hurt," she frowned, "It's interesting. I wonder if… hm. Actually that explains something for me. The tribbles must be much more empathic than they are telepathic. I mean, obviously they feed on love, but I always figured it was thoughts of love rather than the actual emotion."

"It did hurt," Kurama huffed, "The tribbles can go to limbo."

"Agreed. I've been trying to determine the best way to infect their food source and kill them through poison."

"I knew someone who was also trying that, or, really, Hiei knew her."

"I'm not talking about a physical food source, I'm talking about their love food, the stuff they're really after."

"Oh." Kurama frowned.

"I've tried a lot of different experiments with manipulating the emotions towards the tribbles, but it's been difficult because their collective mind is closed to me."

"I wish rather than squeak they'd scream when they die," Kurama offered, giving his tribble a squeeze, making it squeak, "I'd expect they're hard to crack."

"Yes, they are," She sighed.

"Have you cracked one? Like, just one?"

"No, unfortunately not. I haven't managed to crack any of them."

"There's a girl over in the market town that bred a white and brown tribble, maybe her breeding experiments can help you?"

"Actually," Rose sighed, "The closest I've come to cracking this conundrum is by removing all emotion from a patient at one point because they asked me to, in order to see what it would be like. Their tribble, reacted oddly, but I wasn't able to continue the investigation because I can't exactly remove my own emotions or I might not put them back and that would be bad."

"Did their tribble free them?"

"Well, no, not exactly, but it started squirming and moving about like it was trying to search for them."

"What if you tried near the edge?"

"Honestly, I have no idea. I'd like to try withholding someone's emotions for an extended period of time to see what the tribble does."

"If it'd help people get off this hell I'd be willing to help."

"Alright, we'll try it later."

Kurama nodded as the cliff neared and he led her up it, "I don't know who he's found," he told her quietly.

"I believe her name is Ray something, like Ray Iron or something."

"Huh," Kurama frowned.

Hiei heard them approaching and they met together closer to the way down than the meeting spot, "Kurama, this is Armorda Ray."

Kurama examined the woman for a moment and chuckled, "This is Rose."

Rose nodded, "It's a pleasure to meet you Hiei. I've uh, heard a bit about you," she glanced at Kurama and smiled.

Hiei frowned, "Why?"

"I told her you bit me," Kurama chuckled, "She might be our key to getting out of her without falling in love with someone," He offered.

"I'm an empath."

"I'm a metal demon," Armorda grinned, placing her hands on her hips.

Kurama chuckled, "Always the fancy ones Hiei."

Hiei rolled his eyes, "Are we going to plan how to keep in touch or just talk about the obvious?"

"Do you two know how far away you live from each other?" Kurama asked Rose.

"You live out by the mines, don't you Miss Ray?"

"I do," She agreed.

"Then pretty far. I live close to the center of town, actually where you found me Kurama."

"Hm. We could meet up once a week or so," Kurama offered, "Maybe twice?"

"That won't be an issue for me," Armorda shrugged.

"Sure, I don't mind getting out of the house for a while."

"Good, so that's settled." Kurama nodded. "Where will we meet?"

"Well, my place is rather compact, so it might be best to meet elsewhere." Rose declared.

"We can meet in my place, I can make it as roomy as I want." Armorda shrugged.

"Alright, what days?"

"Hn, It's not like you're going to be interrupting anything Fox, just come over."

"Alright, we'll work it out on our end then." Kurama nodded.

"Is that all we needed to talk about?" Rose asked softly.

"I don't know, Hiei, any outstanding questions?"

"No."

"Then we're probably good."

Hiei nodded, "Alright. I'll see you when you stop by, Fox."

"Alright Hiei," Kurama smiled, "I'll see you later."


End file.
